When Duan Wencao heard that Rencheng was attacked by the thief army, he felt very bad. It was not because he lacked confidence, but because he was full of worry about the future situation. It can be seen that the white-haired thief in the north and the Meng Haigong and Han Yao on the south line maintained close contact, and they were not fighting each other. The thieves hugged each other and joined forces to compete with the official army. If Duan Wencao wanted to defeat them in the shortest time, it would be difficult to stabilize the situation in western Shandong.

Duan Wencao thought for a long time and decided to ask Cui Deben Pengcheng for help again. Zhang Xutuo left. Although the current situation was beneficial to the Lu army, it was obviously difficult to defeat the thief army with the Lu army alone. Take a step back and even if the trick of luring the enemy was successful, all the thief army rushed to Ningyang City to fight the Lu army to the decisive battle, and the Lu army won, but the price paid was definitely very heavy. Duan Wencao was determined to preserve his strength, and he did not have the idea of ​​doing his best to do his best. If the Qilu people want to block the joint suppression of the Guanlong people and Jiangzuo people in the current Qilu political situation and the future Dongdu political situation, and to protect the vested interests of the group, they must also maintain sufficient strength. Strength is the basis of interests, and without strength, there is no benefit.

Duan Wencao detailed the battle situation in western Shandong in his letter, scolding Zhang Xutuo so hard that he was bloody, and characterizing the fact that Zhang Xutuo left at a critical moment as a conspiracy. Duan Wencao made a detailed analysis for this and believed that the battle situation in western Shandong after Zhang Xutuo seemed to be beneficial to him, but in fact it was an illusion. With the current strength of the Lu army, he was unable to suppress the thief army after joining forces. The chaos in western Shandong would inevitably affect the entire situation in Qilu, which gave the Guanlong people and Jiangzuo people an excuse to attack the Qilu people. The interests of the Qi people were damaged, which would inevitably affect the overall interests of the Shandong people. As the Cui family, the first wealthy family in Shandong, must give strong support to the Qi people at this moment.

Duan Wencao's requirements were not high. He hoped that Cui Deben would send some more troops into Lu County. While ensuring the safety of Zoucheng and Pingyang, he would protect the capital Xiaqiu and shock the thieves, and play a part of the role of restraining the thieves, forcing them not to attack Rencheng. In this way, the thieves would be unable to launch a north-south attack on Ningyang, and the Lu army would continue to take the initiative and find a good opportunity to annihilate the enemy.

In order to convince Cui Deben, Duan Wencao had to write a letter himself and racked his brains to work hard on wording.

In the big tent, Duan Wencao was concentrating on his desk and wrote a letter. The Eagle-Strike General Niu Jinda stood in front of the map with his arms in his arms, concentrating and contemplating. He did not agree with Duan Wencao's method. It was better to seek others than to seek others. At present, the Lu army had obvious advantages. As long as the decision was correct, it could completely defeat the traitor. Cui Deben was not a single word in Pengcheng and monopolized power. On the contrary, he was constrained by Xuzhou's local forces in politics, and was even more restrained by Zuo Xiaowei Mansion and Wu in military affairs.

Benlang General Liang Dezhong. The reason why Duan Wencao's request for help was successful was not because Cui Deben kept his promise or because Cui Deben focused on the overall interests of the Shandong people, but because the Xiao family of Lanling also needed the stability of the situation in southwestern Shandong due to the interests of itself and the Xuzhou noble group, they compromised and led their troops to support. At this moment, Duan Wencao asked Cui Deben for help again, and even if Cui Deben had the will to help, he was unable to send an army.

Duan Wen wrote the letter, but did not seal it up immediately, but sat there and bowed his head to meditate.

Niu Jinda turned around and looked at the letter placed on the desk. He knew that Duan Wencao was not confident about asking for help and was still hesitating. So he slowly walked to the side of the desk and sat down, whispering, "Empress, the traitor has already attacked the north and south. If we continue to surround and do not attack, Ningyang City will not be our bait, but the bait of the thief."

Duan Wencao nodded slightly. He surrounded Ningyang City, surrounded but did not attack, used Ningyang as bait to lure the thieves to come for a decisive battle. This is a simple and easy-to-use strategy, but the thieves were cunning and did not deceive. He did the opposite. He also used Ningyang as bait to restrain the main force of the Lu army. The thieves attacked Rencheng and attacked north and south along the line of the water, which clearly exposed this intention. If the Lu army did not react to this, continued to adhere to the established strategy, and continued to wait for the thieves to fight to Ningyang, then the thieves would send all their main force to attack the towns around Xiaqiu to plunder food. In this way, the Lu army was in a passive and dilemma.

When Niu Jinda saw Duan Wencao silent, he had to take the initiative to make suggestions.

"Empress, the intention of the thief is clear at a glance. If we want to take the initiative firmly, the most urgent task is to take Ningyang immediately." Niu Jinda said earnestly, "Taking Ningyang and destroying the thief army in the city can not only deal a heavy blow to the thief, but also free up hands to calmly deal with the thief's attack."

Duan Wencao hesitated and still didn't speak.

Niu Jinda was a little anxious. In addition to a few county towns and important towns, most of the towns in the surrounding areas have garrisons, the garrison tasks of most small towns are undertaken by local towns. The main forces of these towns are now under Ningyang City. Once the thief army on the north and south lines sends their main forces to sweep these small towns that basically have no defense capabilities, the morale of the army will inevitably be in chaos. If the morale of the army is in chaos, it will be even more difficult to fight Ningyang. What should Duan Wencao do at that time? He can only give up Ningyang.

, withdrew back to Xiaqiu and stabilized the situation around Xiaqiu. However, in this way, the thieves in Ningyang City successfully escaped. The thieves did not lose much force and grabbed food. The morale was high and the offensive would inevitably be stronger. The official army suffered heavy losses and their morale was sluggish. They could only hold on to the city and defend passively. It can be imagined that if the situation reached that point, not only would Lu County have great trouble, but the entire Qilu situation would deteriorate further, and Duan Wencao would be even more difficult to redeem his crime.

"Encourt, the fighter opportunity is fleeting, and you must not hesitate." Niu Jinda tried his best to advise, "The thieves have surrounded Zoucheng and Pingyang, and are now attacking Rencheng. Our defensive forces on the southwest line are very limited. If the war on the southern line fails one after another, we will lose one's dilemma, and it will be difficult to attack Ningyang again in a hasty way. Envoy, the thieves' large-scale attack on the southern line seems to be surrounded by Wei and rescue Zhao, but in fact they have hidden murderous intent, so you should not be careless."

Duan Wencao's view of the battle situation is different from that of Niu Jinda. After a unit of the bandit army was besieged Ningyang, only the white-haired thief Cangtou Army was the white-haired thief. The thief commanders Meng Haigong and Han Yao on the southern battlefield were obviously not strong enough. Although they were fighting lively and very active now, they actually did not rain. The threat was very small and not worth worrying about. As for the current situation, whether the thief surrounded Wei and rescued Zhao or attacked from north to south, there was only one purpose, that is, to take down Ningyang City, so that they could not only rescue the besieged army and obtain food. The thief would grow and grow, while the contrary was that the official army was in trouble, and the situation in western Shandong would deteriorate as a result. Therefore, Duan Wencao did not have the idea of ​​forcibly attacking Ningyang City at all. He now focused all his attention on the direction of Gangcheng, and there was only one purpose, to try every means to defeat the Cangtou Army, decide one battle, and solve the crisis in western Shandong once and for all.

The two people's judgments on the strength of the thief army were different, which resulted in their understanding and deduction of the current situation, so the countermeasures they came up with were different. Niu Jinda could not convince Duan Wencao, but Duan Wencao was quite conceited and had a high opinion of himself, so he would not give any explanation to Niu Jinda at all.

Niu Jinda's advice played the opposite effect, which made Duan Wencao even more determined. He waved his hand at Niu Jinda and signaled him not to say anything, he had his own decision.

Duan Wencao sealed the letter and handed it to his subordinates, and quickly sent it to Pengcheng from the post station. He also wrote a copy to Xiao She, thanking him for sticking to Zoucheng and Pingyang for standing on the front line. Then he briefly described the battle situation on the northern line and analyzed the possible impact of the latest developments in the war on the northern line. Finally, he begged Xiao She to find fighter jets while ensuring the safety of Zoucheng and Pingyang for taking the initiative. As long as he severely attacked the thief commanders Meng Haigong and Han Yao, the battle situation on the southern line will not only be quickly reversed, but will also help the Lu army make a breakthrough in the northern line battlefield.

Niu Jinda was very disappointed, but he followed Duan Wencao for many years, admired Duan Wencao's strategy, and was quite confident in his official position. Since Duan Wencao insisted on the established strategy, he had his own reasons. Duan Wencao was once a Hu Ben Lang General of the Guard Army. Although his background and qualifications were important, military merits were indispensable. Duan Wencao had been a senior military officer in the army for many years, and his military talent was of course extraordinary. Niu Jinda dared not advise again, but the ominous thoughts in his heart entangled him like a nightmare, making him uneasy.

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Li Fengyun from Gangcheng was also anxious and could not sleep at night.

Duan Wencao is worthy of being a veteran in the army. He is very calm. No matter how the situation develops, he is still in shock and calm. He always surrounds Ningyang City. He neither strives to attack the city nor divides troops to rescue Ren Cheng, who was attacked by the rebel army, and allows the thief commanders Meng Haigong and Han Yao to attack the city, burn, kill and loot on the battlefield on the southern front.

Meng Haigong has limited strength, and Han Yao has only four regiments. They have to surround Zoucheng and Pingyang, and attack Rencheng. At the same time, they have to divide their troops to attack some small towns to plunder food to supplement military shortages. You can imagine their difficulties in deploying troops. At the beginning, they may be able to deceive their opponents. After a long time, the flaws will emerge. Once the opponent understands the truth, the "bluffing momentum" of the rebel army on the southern front will be unsustainable. If they are not careful, they may be attacked by their opponents, which will reveal their true colors and make it difficult to achieve anything.

"Duan Wencao is indeed a traitor." In the Cangtou Army's tent, Yuan An shook his head repeatedly while flirting with his secret reports from the scouts, "He seemed to have seen through our plan and stayed at Ningyang City and kept holding his troops. If we continue, we will be forced to become more and more serious as the food crisis becomes more and more serious, so we can only fight to Ningyang to fight him."

"This battle cannot be delayed, it must be fought immediately." Li Fengyun looked grim and shook his head repeatedly, "We have no food, continue to drag on it. Not to mention the decisive battle, there is no chance for a decisive battle."

Yuan An threw away the secret report in his hand and sighed, "Now we are at a loss and have no choice."

"There is one way, that is, it is difficult to implement." Li Fengyun also sighed, "But now that thing has come to this, I can only try it."

"Where will the plan come out?" Yuan An asked in surprise.

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Chapter completed!